New era in budget travel to Asia as AirAsia X lands

BUDGET airline AirAsia X's first plane landed in Sydney today, sparking a new era in cheap travel to Asia.

The airline will operate daily flights to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, with new one-way sale fares from $199 for online bookings until Thursday.

It also has fly-thru promotional fares to Japan, Bali, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam from $239.

Singapore Airline's budget offshoot Scoot will also begin flying from Sydney to Singapore in July.

The new airlines will make it quicker and cheaper to get to Asia than ever before, with AirAsia X offering links to more than 80 destinations.

Sydney is AirAsia X's fourth Australian destination after the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth and its move into the Harbour City had been highly anticipated for some time.

The airline had previously been denied permission to fly from Sydney by the Malaysian Government, despite receiving the green light from local authorities, because it wanted to protect its national carrier from aggressive new price competition.

In late 2010, the airline painted the phrase "Liberate Sydney. End the Monopoly'' on the side of its newest plane.